You are here:

Pérola

Name: Pérola
Director: Murilo Benício
Released: 2023
Duration: 91 min

Representation Score

6.0/10

Fair

2023

Director

Murilo Benício

Runtime

91 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Pérola is a character-driven domestic drama that delves into the intricacies of grief and memory. By focusing on a matriarch's unique behaviors and spiritual autonomy, the film elevates female subjectivity and challenges traditional portrayals of passive motherhood. The film successfully breaks down the idealized family unit, presenting a realistic look at an ordinary Brazilian family. Its setting in Bauru provides a culturally significant departure from Western-centric domestic stories. However, the film lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or disability. While it avoids rigid moral structures, the narrative scope remains centered on the central maternal relationship.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Pérola have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The story focuses mainly on the relationship between a mother and her child. There are no explicit mentions of LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight relationships.

How does Pérola portray gender?

Good

The film centers on the actions and spiritual independence of a female leader. This disrupts traditional patriarchal structures by making her unique traits the main driver of the plot.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Pérola?

Fair

Set in Bauru, Brazil, the film shifts away from Anglo-centric storytelling. It highlights a Brazilian family, offering a fresh perspective.

How does Pérola represent religion and culture?

Good

The story emphasizes personal spirituality and individual truths over institutional doctrines. It portrays domestic dysfunction and emotional realism rather than an idealized family structure.

Does Pérola include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no specific information about the portrayal of physical or neurological disabilities in this work.

Present on Screen

Highlights female subjectivity by centering the matriarch's actions and uniqueness.
Offers a non-Western perspective by situating the story within a Brazilian cultural context.
Challenges idealized family clichés through a realistic depiction of domestic dysfunction.

Limited or Absent

Does not include explicit representation of LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight relationships.
Does not depict physical or neurological disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Soon after learning of the death of his mother Pérola, Mauro returns to his old family home in Bauru (São Paulo, Brazil). A look back into his mother’s peculiar habits, her illusions, sense of humor, spirituality, and desire to control all things... with the love and tenderness that only distance and time allow. A reunion between mother and son: their conflicts, conversations, and dreams of a better life all converge in constructing a swimming pool in their backyard. It is a portrait of an ordinary family that fights, makes up, celebrates, cries, and carries on, full of stories just like any other.

How are these scores produced? →